


Mercury and Blood

by prince_doomed



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Basically just how Pietro plays off everyone, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Character Death Fix, Family Dynamics, Good Sibling Pietro Maximoff, Good Sibling Wanda Maximoff, Im so sorry I’m a disaster at tags, Major Character Undeath, Minor Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Pietro Maximoff Deserved Better, Pietro Maximoff Feels, Pietro Maximoff Lives, and writing, but Pietro isn’t happy about that, but enjoy, sibling dynamics, take bets on what side pietro is on, the snap, trying to be both sides friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-31 19:43:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21247523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prince_doomed/pseuds/prince_doomed
Summary: Pietro Maximoff still has nightmares about the day he lost everything. But this, this could keep it from ever happening again.A look into the mind of Pietro Maximoff prior to, during and following Age of Ultron.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Pietro Maximoff, Laura Barton & Pietro Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff & Natasha Romanov, Pietro Maximoff & Sam Wilson, Pietro Maximoff & Steve Rogers, Pietro Maximoff & Tony Stark, Pietro Maximoff & Ultron, Pietro Maximoff & Vision, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I am using movie dialogue for accuracy, but I’ll let you know when it starts and ends. 
> 
> Sorry if the chapter breaks are odd, I write this on one continuous document.
> 
> Also, this is the first fic I am posting here, so any constructive criticism is welcome, and compliments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> \- Starfish

A little boy ran down a narrow street, ignoring the mud that splashed over his nice black pants. He didn't even know why he was running, just that his twin sister had looked panicked when she told him to run. This was nothing new though, as the twins got into trouble practically every other day. He skidded to a stop using his heels as brakes when he heard the familiar shriek of his sister in trouble. He spun on his heels in one fluid motion to see Wanda, struggling to twist her arm out of the grip of their school teacher. 

“Come back Pietro.” The teacher said sternly.

“Let go of my sister, you're hurting her!” He shouted, arms crossed. The teacher loosened her grip but didn't let go. Wanda kept squirming. 

“What did she do?” He asked, taking a careful step forward. This was one of their nicer teachers, so getting her mad must mean something was up.

“She punched another student.” The teacher said reasonably. 

Pietro moved closer and shifted his gaze to Wanda. “Why?” 

“He-he said you were stupid.” She sniffed. “He said we didn't deserve to be there.” 

The teacher looked down at Wanda sympathetically. “I'm sorry dear, we will punish the boy, but you still shouldn't punch others. Now please come back, you have to be responsible.” 

Pietro nodded, stepping up and grabbing his sister by the hand. “Okay, we know.” The twins returned to school, and walked home muttering together about what had happened. 

Dinner was quiet. Their parents had scolded them but understood their reasoning and told the twins they truly did love them, and they wanted them to succeed but also to be happy and that they could change schools if they wanted. That had Wanda and Pietro lost in quiet thoughts, that was, until the first bomb went off. 

They heard the explosion and the screaming from below them, and immediately shoved up and out of their chairs, just before the floor began to crack. Their father shoved the twins toward their mother, who locked her hands around theirs, and they watched their father get swallowed into the rising cloud of dust. He didn't scream, just smiled sadly at his children and breathed a sharp gasp as he fell. Wanda and Pietro cried, but their mother froze, mouth open but no screams escaping from it. 

The twins tugged her hands toward the door, but she sat there, the shock overtaking her. When the floor cracked underneath their mother, her silence broke with it. She screamed as she fell, though she did think to let go of the twins’ hands. 

Tears streamed down the twins’ faces, but numb over the ringing in his ears, survival instincts took over Pietro. He ran, tugging Wanda with him. The way to the door was blocked, so he turned off to get into their bedroom, where he curled up, shaking, under the bed. And that's when he saw it, the final bomb. Pietro’s breath hitched, but he knew he couldn't scream. He knew Wanda had seen it, as she shook in her place curled up against him. But he knew he needed to protect her, so he laid there, protecting her, quietly humming a lullaby, and watched the bomb, and the bold white Stark emblazoned on its side. As the darkness set in, Pietro hoped against hope that someone could save them from this horror.

…

Nine years later, and Pietro Maximoff still had nightmares about that day, the day he lost everything. But this, he thought, looking at the crumpled poster he had found on the street, this could keep it from ever happening again. To anyone. Not just him. He read it over again. 

Do you want to help your country? This is how. Sign up for the DEEP - Detached Experimental Enhancement Program. Registration forms can be found at any local bookstore or at the S.H.I.E.L.D facility near you. Sign up today!

Folding up the paper and shoving it into his back pocket, Pietro continued on his way home.

Pietro took the stairs two at a time as soon as he got back to their apartment and flung open the door cheerfully.

“Wanda! You must see this!” he shouted without realizing his sister was only two feet away from him, now plugging her ears in annoyance. 

“I can hear you.” She said with a laugh, and Pietro laughed with her in surprise. “What must I see?” She continued. 

“I found this flyer today, it says we can become enhanced, we'd be able to help people Wanda!” He explained with a smile. 

She took the flyer from him and glanced over it quickly. “Sounds suspicious.” Wanda mused.

“It's from S.H.I.E.L.D, how suspicious can they be?” He answered jokingly. 

“Very.” She replied bluntly, clearly not in the mood for humor. 

Pietro raised a worried eyebrow. “Are you alright sister?”

“Just...thinking. About what mother and father would've thought of this.” She sighed. 

He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “They would stand by our decision, but hope we would take the chance for the betterment of Sokovia.” he said, pulling from now distant memories of his parents for an explanation.

Wanda nodded. “I will pick up the forms. We will do the experiments.” she decided, and Pietro smiled, proud she stood by him. 

A few weeks later, the twins heard a knock on their door. They both stood up immediately, as it was very rare they got visitors, as even salesmen didn't often come into this part of town. They carefully answered the door with intimidating stares, anxious at the sight of a S.H.I.E.L.D agent on their doorstep.

“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff?” He asked, as though he was unsure if he was in the right place. Wanda nodded carefully. The agent barrelled on. “You two have been selected for the Detached Experimental Enhancement Program. You will now be coming with me to begin the experiments. Please sign here.” The agent stuck a clipboard under their noses. 

Pietro glared, and snatched it from him. He read over the page quickly and signed, as there was nothing on there not already covered by the information on the registration form. Wanda did the same, and they handed the clipboard back. “Let us grab our bags.” Wanda added. The agent gave a curt nod, and the twins rushed into the other room, where their pre-packed bags lay waiting, just in case they had been chosen. 

“Are you ready brother? Everything may begin to change.” Wanda asked apprehensively. 

“We will always have each other.” Pietro replied jokingly, and was happy that his sister smiled back. They followed the agent, leaving their life behind. 

The car ride to the facility was practically silent, as the agent was serious and silent as he drove and the twins weren't sure what to say. They mostly just shared confused and awkward glances back and forth at each other, hoping to make sense of their situation, or at least give it some familiarity.

When they got to the facility, the agent told them the directions to the volunteers’ meeting room, and then practically disappeared. Pietro shot Wanda a confused look due to how awkward that had been, but she simply shrugged in return, and then turned toward the facility.

The twins took in everything as they walked through the dark and narrow halls. The light echo of their shoes tapping against concrete, the layers of dust from a facility overdue for a remodeling, and the air of caution surrounding the place were among the things the twins took in before reaching the meeting room. Wanda glanced at her brother and Pietro nodded, he was ready. She turned the handle and sucked in a breath as it opened with a light click. 

What they found inside was a meeting room lit with bright fluorescent lighting, practically blinding in the first few seconds, and once their eyes adjusted, they found themselves faced with three confused and concerned faces.

“Who are you?” One boy, seemingly older than the other two, spoke up.

“My name is Pietro, this is Wanda, we are volunteers, like you, no?” Pietro explained carefully. He was relieved they weren’t the only ones, though it was odd. 

Everyone in the room visibly relaxed at this. “Yeah, sorry, this place just gives us the creeps. My name is Hugo.” The same boy from earlier introduced. 

Pietro smiled and nodded, and then Wanda spoke up. “Perhaps we should all introduce ourselves, feel more at home?” She offered. Everyone around the room nodded their approval.

Pietro and Wanda sat down at the round table, and Pietro began the introductions. “My name is Pietro Maximoff, I am nineteen years old, and I am here because I want to protect people.” He smiled slightly. 

Wanda went next. “I am Wanda Maximoff, nineteen years old. Me and Pietro are twins, and I am here because I want to change the way people see me and others.”

“I am Hugo Harker, twenty two years old, and I am here because I want to find my sister again.” His dark blue eyes and strong demeanor looked close to a breaking point. Everyone gave him quiet words of encouragement at this. 

“I’m Jean Nodsle, I’m seventeen years old, I came here because….” She trailed off, likely lost in her own mind. “I don’t really know why I came, just that it felt important.” She decided with a shrug, which bounced her bob of short black hair.

“Gabriel Dvorak, fourteen, my family needs the money.” The last muttered quietly, blond curls hiding his eyes. He bit his lip, as even he looked like he would prefer to be anywhere else in the world right now. 

They heard the click of the door and all snapped back to attention, that quiet moment of connection dissipating in an instant. A man, tall, bald and with a stare that made them all anxious stepped into the room. 

“I am Strucker, the man in charge of this facility. You will call me as such, as you must distance yourselves to have any chance of making it through these experiments. You were chosen because of your uncanny connections to the specific experiments we are hoping to accomplish. For the youngest of you, we aim to flow fire through your veins. For Jean we aim to alter your density and help you fly. For the twins, the male will earn speed beyond compare, and the female, the ability to use your mind as a shortcut. And for the oldest of you, we aim to alter your form to one of unimaginable power.”

Everyone glanced at each other, and Pietro quietly tried not to smile, as the excessive amount of crisp intensity that Strucker used as he spoke was too much for him to take seriously. 

Several scientists followed Strucker into the room and walked over to the volunteers in question. Pietro narrowed his eyes at the scientists who came by his side. 

“You will have a typical check-up today, so we can prepare everything for the experiments which will begin tomorrow, then we will let you go to your rooms.” Strucker explained before turning on his heel and heading out. 

The check-up passed by in a blur, as the scientist was practically a robot, not speaking, and rather harsh and Pietro was just looking forward to talking with the other volunteers again. 

When he reached the room the volunteers would be staying in, he found his bag already tossed onto a top bunk, with Wanda’s bag on the bunk below him. “Thank you sister.” He muttered cheerfully, as she knew his preference. Looking over, he found the four other volunteers in the other room, huddled together at a table. He headed in, raising a confused eyebrow. 

Wanda turned her head up and looked at him. “Come quickly.” She said, waving him over. 

Pietro rushed to join them, taking the last chair and biting the inside of his lip with worry. “What happened?”

“I have to get out of here.” Gabriel said, eyes red, face streaked with dry tears. Pietro looked to Wanda in confusion. 

“His scientist explained the process he would go through and what would happen to him. It is outside his contract, highly dangerous and they won’t even pay him the money.” Hugo explained.

“We are getting you out.” Pietro said solemnly. “I said I was here to help others, so now I will help you.” 

The five of them stayed up late into the night, talking in hushed Sokovian tones, sharing things they’d observed about the buildup of the facility, and all they ways they could get Gabe out of it. Despite the short amount of time that had spent with him, he had practically already become their brother, and this night, in which they never slept, just furthered that point, and by morning, though tired, they all had a plan. Observe everything they needed to know that day, and get Gabriel out at night. 

Pietro had been the one instructed to watch the patrol patterns of the security guards. He tried to be as smooth about it as possible, acting as though he was just curious as he looked around and asked his scientist for the day various questions. This scientist, luckily, was friendly, and tried to answer all of his questions to the best of her ability, her ponytail bouncing cheerfully as she went through what the science was behind his experiment. 

“We are going to speed up your body functions, which will in turn speed up your reactions and let you move super fast.” She explained carefully. When Pietro nodded, she got more specific. “We will focus on increasing your metabolism and thermal homeostasis.” She added. “That way your body can handle and will want to move at fast speeds.” 

“So what will we do today?” He asked. 

“Oh today is more prep, a few shots to get started, they will help increase your metabolism, but a lot of that you will have to do yourself. I’ll send you off with a couple of tea packets and then you have to exercise. We have to get you to reach your natural metabolism limit before we can do the rest.”

“That is in my control.” He said with a smile. 

The scientist laughed. “You better get it done, or it’ll be on my hands.” She shook her head, and began to get to work. Pietro zoned out as she gave him shots, thinking about the plan. The security guards came in pairs, always ten minutes apart, but likely five during the night. They would need to be fast, and silent as everyone in this facility always seemed on edge, even the happy scientist working on him today had a hint of nervousness behind her smile. 

Pietro flicked back into focus when he realized she had said something. “Sorry?” 

“I said, we’re done, you can head to the gym now.” She restated. “It’s okay, I always distract myself when I got shots too.” 

“Thank you.” He said with a nod, grabbing the tea packets she handed to him and sliding them into his pocket before heading for the gym. 

Calling it a gym was a bit of a stretch as the place was extremely bare. Pietro shrugged, that was fine with him anyway as he much preferred simply running laps to any other exercise. He ran at a solid pace for about ten minutes before sprinting for five and doing the same over again on repeat. When Pietro ran, it was like the rest of the world disappeared, the only things he could sense were the sound of his feet hitting the ground, the taste of the cold air on his tongue, and the feeling of the wind flowing past him and through his hair. Pietro continued like this for at least an hour.

He only stopped when he heard someone calling his name. As he slowed to a stop, reality rushed back in around him. Pietro suddenly realized how exhausted he was, but he turned towards the voice to find Hugo waving at him. “Dinner!” He called, and Pietro nodded, panting as he jogged over to the other boy. 

“Sorry.” He apologized with a weak smile. “You wait long?” His English was broken, but Pietro felt like it was safer to use it in the facility. 

“No. Water?” Hugo replied in his own broken English, holding out a water bottle for Pietro to take. 

“Thanks.” He smiled gratefully, taking a giant gulp of water gratefully. 

“Slow down.” Hugo laughed, and Pietro laughed with him, as well as taking his advice. He got the hiccups anyway, and purposefully over exaggerated them, bouncing with each hiccup. 

When they got to the dining hall, Strucker was waiting for them. “I need to have a word with the volunteers.” 

“I can say what you need.” Hugo said with a frown. 

“Fine. No more Sokovian. I understand it is a sense of familiarity but you need to learn English, just as many of us have.” He replied, glaring at the pair of them. 

“Understood.” Hugo said, and grabbed Pietro by the hand, pulling him along as they got the food they needed and returned to the volunteers room in silence. 

When they got there, Gabe was waiting, and he smiled cheerfully as they came in. “Welcome back! Jean and Wanda started to get everything ready to cook.”

“We need to talk. Pietro has heard, he can cook.” Hugo said with a frown. 

“Why are you speaking English, it is just us.” Gabe replied with confusion. Hugo shook his head, and went into the other room. 

Pietro made his way to the kitchen with their bags of food, and told Wanda and Jean that Hugo needed to talk to them. As he cooked, he heard Wanda shout angrily, and heard her fist hit the table with a clatter and crash as the silverware shook with the vibrations. He heard Jean begin to cry, as she didn’t even understand English. He decided to take his time in the kitchen, and console his sister when calmed down from her rage. 

Thanks to Wanda and Jean, water was already boiling, and he simply cooked the noodles and mixed up some sauce. As plain as it was, at least they had food. He served them their food and took his own seat quietly, as Wanda was still streaming curses in violent Sokovian. 

“Sister.” He muttered sternly. She turned to look at him, rage burning in her eyes, silent now. “He is young.” He reminded, nodding at Gabe. She sighed in annoyance. “Please just listen for now. When it is over, we will scream Sokovian.” He promised. 

Wanda shook her head, but finally calmed. “Strucker treats us like fools.” She mumbled, before going fully silent over her meal. 

Pietro glanced over at Jean, who was wiping the tears from her eyes. Hugo was comforting her, telling her they would teach her English every day. She wiped her eyes determinedly and smiled. 

Gabe spoke up suddenly. “Fire in my soul.” He muttered. The plan was in motion.

Pietro turned to the clock. “Seven.” He said decidedly. 

Wanda got up next, and cleared the table. Jean went into the front room and began making everyone’s beds, and Hugo took Gabe aside to talk to him. Pietro stayed where he was, pulling out a pad and pencil and beginning to draw. 

Throughout the next two hours they went about the most mundane things, while sneaking each other the pieces they needed for their escape. Pietro did a quick doodle of the guards loop and the most unguarded spot, and handed it to his sister as she passed him. She dropped it for Jean to find and slip under Hugo’s pillow. He would hide it between the pages of his book and look it over as he read. Wanda used subtle hand signals to tell Pietro what he would need to do to get them out of the room in the first place and soon everyone was prepared. 

The clock struck nine. Pietro stood up and began to stumble. Wanda wandered in, but rushed over when she saw him. “Brother?” She asked worriedly. “Are you alright?”

Internally, Pietro was beaming, his sister had a talent for acting. Externally though, he shook his head weakly, and she put her arm around him as support. 

She opened the door and was faced by a confused security guard. “I’m sorry, volunteers aren’t supposed to be out at this hour.” He said it sternly, but there was a kind edge to his words. 

“Do you see my brother? He is not well.” Wanda snapped. 

The security guard nodded. “Right, so sorry. I will take him to facility nurse.” 

“I am coming. He is my brother.” Wanda insisted, and the guard sighed, but nodded. The three of them headed off, and Pietro smiled as he saw Hugo and Gabe sneak out and around the corner before a replacement guard could arrive. 

Later, Pietro would hear about everything that he missed. Jean told them that the next security guard had stuck his head in the door and asked her something. She hadn’t understood but assumed he meant how everything was. She told them she angrily shushed him, and he closed the door with some confusion. 

Hugo would later tell them the thrill and rush of adrenaline he felt racing through the halls with Gabe until they reached the open window. He would recount the heartfelt goodbye they shared, and the way he fooled a guard into thinking he was one of them, just closing the window from the draft.

They would never see Gabe again, but they all knew he had made it out safe, and likely returned to his family from the enraged speech Strucker gave to them the next day.

Pietro didn’t remember much, as it was all just useless noise to him, he wasn’t paying attention anyway. All he remembers is that Strucker said he knew they had helped Gabe escape, even if he didn’t know how, and he would punish them each individually. The experiments on Hugo would be stopped, and they would confine him to a room where he had to watch the other three go through the more painful experiments alone. Jean would be surrounded by scientists who didn’t speak Sokovian, and would be punished for uttering a word of it. The twins would be split from each other and put in isolated chambers while they continued their experiments. 

He knew how awful Strucker was, but he had never been to a S.H.I.E.L.D facility before, so Pietro just assumed they must all be like this. He fought against them as they tore him away from his sister, but she looked him in the eyes, and her expression made Pietro stop struggling. She was right, they couldn’t struggle if they wanted to be reunited again. He went limp in the arms of the guards holding him, he wouldn’t struggle, but he wasn’t about to help them lock him up either. 

The cell was small, soundproof and breaking at the seams. It’s old walls were cracked beyond compare, and the bed in the room took up at least a quarter of the space, despite it being sized for someone at least a foot shorter than Pietro. He narrowed his eyes when it clicked. They would’ve held Gabe here, if his fire burnt out of control. That made Pietro feel better, as at least he could take the younger boy’s place in this cell, which smelled of rot and was freezing cold. As he heard the click of the lock behind him, Pietro slumped down against the wall, lost in thought. 

Pietro’s sense of time blurred. Every once in a while, a scientist would come in and poke and prod, and Pietro would zone out, trying not to worry about what they must be doing to Wanda. The pain got increasingly worse, and every day he would wake up with a burning in his chest that made him want to rip himself apart with a scream, or a headache that had him curled up on the floor lashing out in pain when the scientists came. Pietro tried to stay strong, for he knew Hugo was stuck watching them, and he didn’t want the other boy to worry for him. He also didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him broken. Pietro never wanted to show anyone his weaknesses, it made him vulnerable. So he held in the pain, bit back tears when he had to, and became a shell of his former self. He was no longer the cheerful boy who loved to run and draw. He was sarcastic, silent and proud. It went on like this for what must have been weeks until one day he went to sleep, and the morning when he woke up everything had changed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that follows through the events of Age of Ultron, meaning that of course, the dialogue and events aren’t mine, they are from the lovely writers at Marvel. I just filled in the pieces. 
> 
> \- Starfish

Pietro opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the blur of the world around him. His breath caught in his throat, as in the confinement cell his only company had been the sound of his heartbeat, and he had gotten used to the steady pulse, but today it was different, faster. Much faster, with a rhythmic pounding that sounded like feet hitting solid ground as they ran. He looked at his hands, they were twitching, shaking as though they needed to move, to do something. 

He looked up and out. He saw everyone working, but they were frozen solid, barely moving. Panicking as he couldn’t hear himself think over the pounding in his skull, and needed to move, he stood up. Immediately, he found himself hitting the front corner of the cell, everything moved by too fast for his mind to follow yet. He curled in on himself, trying to even out his breathing, but he ended up running again, this time pressing himself into the back corner of his cell, arms pressed against the walls, chest pumping in and out with such intensity. 

This time, Pietro thought he had it under control. He slowly dropped his arms, and stepped forward, and this time when he rushed forward, his mind followed. He slowly looked at his hands, and then up again, looking at Strucker who was watching them from outside. Then, everything went dark. 

Pietro fell back in surprise, only saved by his bed behind him. He laid there, staring at the ceiling, his breathing finally evening out to this new speed, and his heart beginning to quiet, if not slow. When he heard a low sound coming from outside the cell, he put all his focus into being both at his high speed while also comprehending what was going on around him. He could make out the words “power outage” “overload” and “Maximoff girl” he gasped, and bolted upright. Wanda! Was she alright? He rushed to the side of his cell, the one he knew she was behind. 

“Sister?” He asked worriedly, though he was nearly certain she was fine, he felt a deeper connection between them then ever before, and he knew she safe, just confused. 

_Brother_. A voice came back, but not through the wall, instead into his mind. He blinked in surprise before remembering her experiments had to do with the mind, and some form of mind control, he could tell now that must give her connections to others she was close to. 

“Do you know what happened?” He muttered, hoping she knew what was going on. 

_I was experimenting, I guess I went overboard_. He heard back. Pietro was relieved, but more than anything he was just happy to hear her voice again, if only in his head. They had been solitary for weeks now, and the final experiments must have just taken effect. 

The lights blasted back on in a flash of blinding white light and a barrage of beeping, but Pietro was prepared, as he could see how the lights outside the room came on first, then slowly moved into the lights in the lab and their cells. He relaxed, running his fingers through long and wavy brown hair. Pietro suddenly realized how long his hair had really become and sighed, he needed a serious haircut. 

He focused back in on slowing to the speed of the world around him and heard Strucker say “Test successful. Have someone check the twins vitals and get them clean. Then we will reunite and brief them.” Pietro sped around in a circle of pure joy. He would get to see her again, and feel clean for the first time since these awful tests began!

Pietro kicked his legs back and forth, anxiously awaiting the click of the lock and the door to finally open. Pietro had never realized how small the cell really was, but in the last few days, as the experiments’ effects set in, he had realized how claustrophobic he really felt. He already knew he didn’t like confinement, as it reminded him of being trapped with a bomb in his bedroom for days on end, but even though this was a very different situation, it still worsened his fear, and he was more than ready to escape, practically launching out the door the moment it opened, before stopping, knowing he should listen to the scientist who came to get him. 

“Careful, your body functions are not used to the enhanced state.” The scientist said.

“I picked up on that.” He muttered his retort in Sokovian, as most of the scientists didn't know it. 

“You know the rules.” The scientist replied, but it seemed more like a hopeful reminder. “And you don't want to be caught breaking them these days.” That part was whispered in Sokovian.

Pietro blinked in surprise, but nodded, assuming it would be unwise to pry further into that, at least for now. Strucker had always been crazy, but this seemed to indicate he’d gone off the deep end.

The scientist seemed visibly relieved and hurriedly rushed him on. “Just a few tests, like you would normally see at a doctor's appointment.” He explained, fingers nervously flicking a pen up and down. Pietro sat down without hesitation and let the scientist check his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. 

The scientist spoke the whole time, which Pietro guessed was a way to call himself down more than Pietro. The scientist was named Alex, and he loved to rant about his troubles, though as much as his stories about annoying employees and terrible food were nice to hear, Pietro could clearly tell Alex was holding something, or more likely, a lot of things back.

It was, however, a pleasant reminder of what it was like to be normal, that is, until the reflex test. Pietro saw it coming, and it was so slow, he watched it happen and his leg swung out like it naturally should, but in accordance with his speed. He immediately focused back in on slowing his mind to understand what Alex was saying, and found out that when he did that, others only saw a silvery-blue blur. He was surprised by this, but happy, because at least he appeared as something and it was a nice color too.

After that, none of the results could be considered the human normal, but Alex assured Pietro they were healthy for his enhanced state. They laughed together when the blood pressure machine started beeping because it thought he was in critical condition, Alex nearly jumped at the sound of Pietro’s loud and fast beating heart, and they both kept trying to convince the other and themselves that everything would be just fine. 

After the tests, Alex directed Pietro to a bathroom in the facility, handed him a folded pile of clothes and turned to go find a place to wait. “I’m supposed to stick around in case something goes wrong.” He explained. 

Pietro nodded, and rushed inside, grateful to finally be able to clean. As he stood in the shower, freezing water getting warmer at what felt like a snail’s pace to Pietro, he tried out his new speed. 

He looked down at his hands with a frustrated frown. The nerves in his hands were smaller than most, so they shook a little as they were still adapting. He tried to write his name against the wall of the shower by wiping away the water, but it just descended into a scribble. Pietro sighed, and tried again. The same thing happened, though he could get the first few letters in before it messed itself up. With a sigh, Pietro gave up, he wouldn’t be drawing again anytime soon. 

Focusing back in on the task at hand, now also happy with the temperature of the water, Pietro washed himself. He cursed serval times as the soap slipped through his fingers but internally he was purely satisfied. Once he had finished, he stepped out of the shower, and used a towel to dry himself off, smiling when his hair fluffed up as he dried it. 

Pietro decided he liked his new clothes. They had given him a black long sleeve sweatshirt with white arrows down each shoulder and arm. This was over a black shirt with green details. The pants they gave him were simple black sweatpants. He enjoyed the intimidating air it gave him, and headed back out to join Alex.

“That was fast.” Alex laughed at his own joke. “Sorry.” He apologized immediately afterward but Pietro just smirked. 

“Where now?” He asked, and smiled slightly. He was cutting corners when it came to speaking with good grammar too. Wanda would be disappointed.

“I’m guessing you want a haircut.” Alex suggested, and Pietro nodded his thanks. “I know someone.” He then pulled out a walkie-talkie and flipped between the channels. The static buzzed in the quiet air around them, but eventually Alex stopped with a tired sigh. “Caroline?” He asked quietly. 

“Alex?” A voice buzzed back after a moment of tense silence. 

“Yeah. You mind coming to sector 4 hallway Y? Subject 5, the speedster, yeah he needs a serious haircut.” Alex laughed a little as he said it. 

“I am definitely on top of that!” Caroline replied cheerfully. Seconds later, Pietro heard the whoosh of wheels on cement, and seconds after that, a janitor’s cart came whipping around the corner, nothing visible of the small statured girl behind it except a messy black bun bobbing along as she ran. 

The cart screeched to a halt and Caroline stepped to the side. She smiled proudly at the two boys, hands on her hips. Her face was riddled with freckles and dust, so much you could hardly tell what was what. Her skin was surprising pale compared with her thick black hair, and her clothes just too long. “What do you need?” She asked, looking directly at Pietro. This made him happy, she and Alex didn’t treat him like an experiment, just who he was, a boy. 

“A haircut. Anything.” He smiled. Sure, Pietro knew that wasn’t proper English, but he was too tired to try. 

Caroline laughed, but nodded. She pulled a basket out from her cart and sifted through it. Hair supplies of every kind went by, but eventually she nodded, seeming to have a plan. Alex tapped Pietro on the shoulder, and he turned to see the scientist had gotten a chair. 

Pietro sat down and Caroline got to work. Hair fell in front and around his face, and Pietro began to tap his foot as he waited. He only realized he was tapping at blur speed when he heard the echo of Caroline’s laugh. He stopped, and glanced up at her apologetically. Caroline just waved it off, and continued her work. 

Several minutes later, she handed him a mirror. “I finished cutting, Do you want dye?” She asked.

Pietro examined his haircut with fascination. It naturally fell back in layered waves, that reminded him of the wind whipping through his hair as he ran. “Actually, white sounds cool.” He said, trying to be smooth. 

Caroline giggled as he stumbled over the English way of phrasing things, but then she pulled out the bleach and dye and nodded. “White would look amazing.” 

The returned to the bathroom so she could lean him over the small tub so the dye wouldn’t go everywhere, as well as reassuring him nothing would get on his face. Pietro closed his eyes and held his breath anyway, unable to shake the paranoia. 

He zoned out so much she had to tap him when she was finished, and he slowly blinked his eyes open. “Finished.” She handed him the mirror again. He glanced down, and nearly did a double take. His hair looked amazing. The dye was high in quality, and just used to make his hair more white instead of bleach blond. He was relieved as he had worried that he would look ancient. Instead, he looked cooler than ever. 

“Thank you.” He finally said, turning to hand Caroline back her mirror. She was gone, only a small note sat on the ground, stating that he could keep the mirror, she had to get back to work. He smiled slightly, flipped the mirror shut and put it in his pocket. 

He turned and joined Alex back outside. “Ready to see your sister?” He asked. 

“Always.” He grinned, and Alex turned, leading the way.

_Wanda! I’m coming!_ He screamed out in his mind, hoping she would hear. 

_I know. I’m waiting for you. Just down this hallway, third door on the left_. She instructed in his mind. Pietro leapt into full speed, and only just caught Alex’s confused shout of surprise as he raced down the hallway and whacked the door open. He scanned the room quickly, found Wanda and rushed over to her. Pietro then picked up his sister in hug, only letting go and focusing back to normal speed when he had calmed down and stopped himself from crying. 

Wanda smiled slightly at him, but both of them tried to close off their emotions while everyone else was around. 

“I see you have adapted to your newfound abilities.” A cold hiss of a voice said from behind them. The twins turned practically in unison, glaring with the rage of the sun at Strucker. He just raised an annoyed eyebrow and continued on. “Well you will begin to train with these tomorrow but as for now….” He trailed off as he heard something spoken into the earpiece he wore. He turned away and began order everyone about. 

Seconds later, a voice came over the facility’s intercom. “Report to your stations immediately, this is not a drill, we are under attack.” Scientists and soldiers rushed everywhere. Pietro reached down and held Wanda’s hand tight, as if to reassure her. 

They both waited in the shadows of the room as everyone rushed past them, and Pietro glanced toward Wanda. _Who is attacking?_ He asked quietly in his mind. 

_I can’t tell, but it might be the Avengers?_ Wanda made her response with confusion. 

_Why would the Avengers attack S.H.I.E.L.D?_ Pietro thought, mostly to himself, but to his sister as well. 

_This is hardly S.H.I.E.L.D brother, haven’t you noticed?_ She glanced at him with surprise. 

_Of course, but why this facility? They don’t know about us, and why would it matter it they did?_ He started to look around the room, but continued to keep his head bent. 

_It doesn’t matter. If they send us out, at least we can hurt Stark._ Wanda replied decidedly. Pietro gave a slight nod, as that would be enough for him. 

He started to focus when Strucker returned. “Who gave the order to attack?” He demanded. 

“Strucker, it’s the Avengers.” The man replied in a panic. “They landed in the forest, the perimeter guard panicked.” He explained. 

Strucker whispered something he could only make out as “They...after...Scepter.” Before turning to face the man again. “Can we hold them?” He demanded angrily. 

“They’re the Avengers.” The man replied in shocked confusion. 

Strucker just ignored the man. “Deploy the rest of the tanks, concentrate fire on the weak ones.” 

_Can you listen in on their whispers?_ Pietro asked Wanda, still watching Strucker. 

_I think so. Strucker is speaking. “With everything we’ve accomplished. We are on the verge of our greatest breakthrough.” Now the scientist. “Then let’s show them what we’ve accomplished. Send out the twins.”_ They both looked at each other in surprise, but Wanda continued. _Strucker is refusing. The scientist still wants us to fight. Strucker thinks his men can hold the Avengers._ Wanda seemed to scoff, even though they were speaking through thoughts. 

_We have to fight. Not to protect the place, but to mess with the Avengers. Show them what we can do._ Pietro thought. 

_Mess with the Avengers and give Stark a hard time. This is a better plan. You go out into the field, and I’ll stay as defense._ Wanda replied. 

Pietro nodded. This was a much more exciting way to spend an attack on the facility, rather than just hide like they were told to. He ran out of the room without hesitation and followed the path of soldiers to get outside. When he did, he nearly ran a circle for joy. He’d been in the facility for what felt like forever, and it was good to be outside again. He took one moment to enjoy the feeling of the cold wind and snow before racing into the forest. 

The first thing to catch Pietro’s eye was the Archer. He was hiding behind a tree, waiting for an opportunity. Pietro did the same, and when the Archer shot his arrow, Pietro ran out and caught it midair. He threw it into the cold snow just in case it was explosive and kept running. He curved his trajectory toward the Archer, who, now confused, was aiming another arrow. In one fluid motion, Pietro took the arrow from the bow and shoved the Archer over. 

Pietro slowed down as the Archer regained his balance. “What, you didn’t see that coming?” He asked smugly, before grinning and running away again. 

Next he ran toward the Captain, sweeping his legs out from under him as he passed. He was laughing, but tried to keep it to himself. 

_Don’t have too much fun._ He heard Wanda in his mind. 

_Why not?_ He responded with a laugh. _They’ve lowered the barrier, coming your way._ He added. 

_As if I couldn’t tell by the screaming panic, don’t worry, I can handle them. Get somewhere safe._ She responded quickly.

Pietro almost nodded, before realizing they weren’t actually speaking to each other. This was going to take a lot more getting used to. _On it._

Pietro raced further into the forest, and slumped against a tree. He took deep breaths of air, and put a hand to his head. His ears were ringing. Running like this was actually tiring him out. 

_Are you safe?_ He heard Wanda whisper. 

_Yeah, don’t worry. Pietro replied._

_Mind if I try having you see through my eyes? I don’t know if it will work._ She asked. 

_Go ahead._ Flashes of the dark, blinding light, and red came through, and then nothing. He heard Wanda gasp. _Be safe sister, you don’t have to keep trying._ He said in a panic.

_The Captain is here, I cannot focus, sorry brother._ She responded, and then went silent. He could feel her focus and stayed tense, because even though he knew Wanda could handle herself, Pietro still worried for her.

Too nervous to stay where he was, Pietro stood up, shifting toe to toe before making his decision. He had to go and make sure Wanda was alright. He raced back toward the facility, but for his sister’s sake bothered to take a longer way back as to avoid the fighting. 

When he got to the facility, he followed what he felt must be Wanda all the way to a room he’d never seen before. The scepter was there, and Wanda, as well as Tony Stark. 

Pietro angrily bit his lip to keep quiet, and stood at Wanda’s side. Stark was just standing there, staring at something only he could see. _What’s going on?_ He asked.

_I made him see what he fears. Failure._ Wanda hissed determinedly. 

Stark suddenly shook his head, as though snapping out of a daydream, but Pietro knew he couldn’t have done it on free will. Wanda had let him go. Pietro narrowed his eyes in confusion, but he trusted her.

In one motion, Stark snatched the scepter, turned and left, without even glancing back at the twins. 

“We’re just going to let him take it?” Pietro muttered the question without even realizing. 

Wanda just smiled. _It’s not what he thinks._

The twins headed out of the facility, hand in hand, and made their way back home. 

“It all feels, different, now.” Pietro muttered in Sokovian, looking at everything as if it were the first time. They hadn’t been away for too long, but it felt like forever, as Sokovia had always been their home, and they never left it for long. 

“Different, but familiar.” Wanda said with a nod of agreement. 

“I have felt your powers, but do you want to know mine?” Pietro asked. 

“Of course.” Wanda smiled. Pietro picked her up and ran. He heard the wisps of her laughter against the wind as he ran. 

Pietro had to force himself to stop as they reached their apartment, because the thrill of it all felt so good. “This your stop.” He joked. 

Wanda laughed, and carefully stood up as he set her back down. “That was incredible Pietro.” She complimented. 

He grinned, proud to have the approval of his sister who could control minds. “Hungry?” Pietro asked her.

“Hungry.” Wanda agreed, and the twins headed inside their apartment, as if everything was just as normal.

The pizza had only just arrived when they got the message. Wanda stood up suddenly, glaring down at her computer. “Pietro, come look at this.” She said quietly. 

He was over in an instant, pizza still in his hands. “What?” Pietro anxiously put a hand on his sister’s shoulder to comfort her. 

“Someone knows who we are. They want to meet in the church. Now.” She explained. 

Pietro skimmed over the message as he took a bite out of his pizza. “We should go, you can get a good read on them, then I’ll do whatever you need me to.” He decided.

“Let’s go. And leave the pizza, I still don’t understand why you like it so much.” Wanda replied, trying to brighten up their situation. 

The twins walked to the church in silence, Pietro contemplating all the ways he could mess with this guy once they got to him. This mysterious man made his sister worried, he would do whatever it took to make sure she was safe from him. 

“Talk.” Wanda spoke nearly the moment they got inside. “And if you are wasting our time-”

He cut her off. “Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief.” He paused, one hand still hanging in the air from his speech. “You’re wondering why you can’t look inside my head.” It wasn’t a question, and Pietro frowned in frustration.

“Sometimes it’s hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself.” She replied. Pietro knew she was bluffing, she really hadn’t had enough practice to say for sure. 

He stood up, and stepped around the side of the chair he had been lounging on. This was no man, this was a robot, or something like one at least. Pietro closed his fists in preparation, and stepped closer to Wanda. 

“Oh I’m sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That’s why you let Stark take the scepter.” The robot continued on. Pietro glanced at Wanda in surprise. _You expected this?_

“I didn’t expect…” she answered him out loud, and continued to speak to cover it up. “But I saw Stark’s fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct.”

“Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create...smaller people? Uh...children! I lost the word there. Children. Designed to supplant them, to help them...end.” The robot elaborated. 

Pietro rolled his eyes. He was a robot, there is no possible way he could forget a word. 

Wanda continued anyway, seemingly much more comfortable talking to this thing than Pietro was. “Is that why you’ve come?” She asked. “To end the Avengers?”

“I’ve come to save the world.” The robot corrected. “But also, yeah.” He conceded. “We’ll move out right away. This is a start, but there’s something we need to begin the real work.”

He took them back to the facility they had only just left, and showed them what he’d been working on. Pietro had no idea how he’d accomplished everything so quickly. 

Several more robots, significantly less advanced than the leader, emerged. “All of these are...All of these are…” Wanda searched for an answer.

“Me.” The main robot offered. “I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony. They’re discordant, disconnected. Stark’s already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside the rest of their heads…” He was hoping for Wanda to finish. 

Pietro couldn’t stand and watch anymore. He was Wanda’s twin, not her sidekick. He spoke up. “Everyone’s plan is not to kill them.” 

“And make them martyrs?” The robot had understood his meaning. “You need patience. Need to see the big picture.”

“I don’t see the big picture, I have a little picture. I take it out and look at it every day.” He demanded insistently. Wanda glanced up at him sadly. 

“You lost your parents in the bombings. I’ve seen the records.” This just made Pietro angrier. 

“The records are not the picture.” He was sick of this know-it-all robot expecting everything. 

“Pietro.” Wanda warned. 

“No please.” The robot said instead.

As much as he hated this offer, Pietro needed to get this off his chest. “We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It’s big. Our parents go in and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed and the second shell hits. But, it doesn’t go off. It just...sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word…” He relayed everything as the memories came back to him over and over again. 

“Stark.” Wanda filled in, swallowing hard as she must be feeling his pain as well as her own. 

“We were trapped two days.” He muttered in aggravation.

“Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, ‘This will set it off.’ We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us.” Wanda finishes for him.

“I know what they are.” Pietro stated. 

“I wondered why only you two survived Strucker’s experiments.” The robot said incredulously. “Now I don’t. We will make it right. You and I can hurt them.” He glanced briefly at Pietro. “But you will tear them apart, from the inside.” He said, looking directly into Wanda’s eyes. She stared right back. 

The following days consisted of them going on shorter missions. They dealt with anything leading back to them first, no traces or witnesses left behind. Even over time, Pietro still kept his distance from the robot, whom he now knew as Ultron. 

Ultron and Wanda worked as a strikingly good duo, which annoyed Pietro. That was his sister, and he was not going to let Ultron drag her away. He spoke of grand things, though most of it was just talk. Pietro suspected he enjoyed the sound of his own voice, much like his creator, Tony Stark. 

The mission they were currently on was to gather the materials for a more powerful body Ultron hoped to create. The salvage yard they walked through was dark and dusty, and reminded Pietro of the facility. He focused on the mission. 

Now. Wanda said with a nod, and Pietro rushed away, pulling the plug on the power generator before rushing back to join Wanda as they entered the office of Ulysses Klaue.

The man in question had his back to them, and Pietro could tell he was holding a gun. Klaue slowly turned around, and aimed his gun towards them. Pietro stepped to the side, and the man fired. 

Pietro lost focus on the speed of the world around him and grabbed the bullet, before racing to grab the gun and unload it, lining the bullets up on the table. He ducked back and crossed his arms, and Wanda joined him moments later.

“Yeah,” Klaue said. “The enhanced. Strucker’s prize pupils.” he paused this drama to pick up a bowl of candy sitting at his desk. “Want a candy?” He offered.

_Yes._ Pietro thought.

_Don't you dare._ Wanda replied, glancing at him. 

“Oh sorry to hear about Strucker.” Klaue barrelled on. Another man who likes to hear himself talk. “But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life, not a growth market.”

_He's dead?_ Pietro was surprised, and looked at Wanda.

_Ultron must have dealt with him when we were going through the facility files._ Wanda guessed.

_At least we don't have to deal with him._ Pietro decided.

Klaue, oblivious to their conversation, spoke again. “You, you didn't know? Is this your first time intimidating someone? I’m afraid that I'm not that afraid.”

Wanda took this chance to speak up. “Everybody’s afraid of something.” 

Klaue widened his eyes, feigning shock. “Cuttlefish. Deep sea fish. They make lights. Disco lights. Whoom, whoom. I saw a documentary, it was terrifying.” 

Tired of this talk, Pietro snatched up a candy and popped it in his mouth, happy when Klaue flinched with fear.

As expected, he just kept on talking anyway. “So if you're going to fiddle with my brain and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business, and I know you're not in charge, and I only deal with the man in charge.”

Pietro watched Ultron float up to the window behind them, and had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Everyone had to have dramatic flair. 

“There is no “man” in charge.” Ultron said as he crashed through the window, pinning down Klaue. He leaned over the man, whose face was now full of confused shock. “Let's talk business.”

Klaue leads them to the Vibranium with some reluctance. He hands Ultron a cylinder of it.

“Upon this rock I will build my church. Vibranium.” Ultron muttered as he examined it. He then tossed the cylinder to Pietro. 

Pietro looked down at the precious metal in his hands with some awe. 

“You know, it came at a great personal cost. It's worth billions.” Klaue said, hand to the back of his neck.

Ultron just laughed. “Now, so are you. It's all under your dummy holdings? Finance is so weird. But I always say, ‘Keep your friends and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which.’” 

“Stark.” Klaue said suddenly. Pietro glanced around anxiously, but no one was there. 

“What?” Ultron demanded. 

“Tony Stark used to say that...to me. You're one of his.” He elaborated.

“What?! I'm not..!” No one had to look inside Ultron’s head to tell you he was angry. He grabbed Klaue. “I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men?” He hissed. 

“I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!” He shouted, and swung his arm down. The heat and force sliced Klaue's arm clean off. Pietro sucked in a breath.

“I'm sorry. I am sor...Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!” Ultron pretended to apologize. 

He then proceeded to reverse the efforts of that apology by kicking Klaue down the stairs. “It's a thing with me. Stark is, he's a sickness!”

Pietro spun around as he heard the clang of metal behind him.

Stark stood there, flanked by the captain and the god. “You're going to break your old man's heart.” The sarcasm dripped off his words like sap.

“If I have to.” Ultron hissed.

“We don't have to break anything.” Thor spoke up, trying to hold the fragile strands of peace.

“Clearly you've never made an omelet.” Ultron joked. 

“He beat me by one second.” Stark said disappointedly.

Pietro couldn’t take this stupid back and forth joking any longer. He mocked them. “Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?” 

“This was never my life.” Tony said, though Pietro guessed he was trying to convince himself. 

The captain looked over at the twins now. “You two can still walk away from this.” He tried to persuade them. 

“Oh, we will.” Wanda said. Her mind was made up, and therefore so was Pietro’s.

“I know you've suffered.” He tried again.

“Ugh!” Ultron groaned, stepping in. “Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but…”

Thor spoke again. “If you believe in peace, then let us keep it.” Clearly he thought there was still some reconciliation that could be made. Pietro almost felt bad.

“I think you're confusing peace with quiet.” Ultron said dryly.

“Yuh-huh.” Stark brushed him off. “What's the Vibranium for?”

Pietro figured if it was possible for him to roll his eyes, Ultron would be. “I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!” He shouted sarcastically. The other robots burst through the wall behind them with dramatically good timing, and the fight finally begins.

Pietro immediately drops his focus and moves back into speed time. He runs across the bridge, shoving Thor out of his way as he goes. He wants a good vantage point, but it looks like the battle is about to get a lot more busy, judging by whatever Klaue is shouting at his men. Pietro slows down for a moment to listen. 

“Shoot them!” Klaue shouts.

“Which ones?” His mercenary is in a confused panic as he loads his gun.

“All of them!” Klaue screams without second thought. 

Pietro leaves them behind and keeps running now toward the Captain. He dodges around blasts ricocheting away from Stark and Ultron’s fight, and bent over backwards to avoid the shield. He swung a punch as he regained his balance, hitting Captain America with an uppercut. He relished in the shock of the Captain’s face as he knocked backwards and hit the nearby wall. 

Pietro kept running, but paused when Thor’s hammer passed him. He smiled, and grabbed onto the hammer. He yelped in surprise as it dragged him along, and then swung him off. Pietro landed in a pile of boxes and groaned. He figured he was bruised all over. He sucked in gasps of air, and tried to steady his breathing. Pietro hadn’t realized how long he’d been running, but now that he stopped he was exhausted. 

Using his arms to support himself, Pietro started to get up. The world was shaking, and everything was blurry, and he didn’t even notice the Captain coming up toward him. He only realized when he got shoved back down by the blunt front of the shield.

“Stay down, kid.” The Captain warned before running off again. 

Pietro put a hand to his head as if it would stop the ringing. _Are you alright?_ He heard Wanda ask. 

_I’ll be fine._ He responded, curling and uncurling his fists in an attempt to stop the shaking. _Fast metabolism, remember?_

_When you’re ready, I need your help getting into the Captain’s head. He’s on guard, I can’t get close._ Wanda explained.

_On my way._ Pietro stood up, taking deep breaths to regain focus. He then ran, barreling full force into Captain America. The force knocked the Captain against a wall and when he was unfocused from the pain, Wanda used her magic. The red-orange strands seemed to make their way into the veins of his head, a beautiful virus.

Pietro nodded to Wanda, and she snuck off. He leaned against a wall, ears still ringing, and watched. The salvage yard had stayed surprisingly intact considering the battle that raged within. Some of Klaue’s men had begun firing at each other in confusion. 

Suddenly, Pietro heard Wanda scream. The panic that washed over him made him nearly miss it was only inside his head. Following the instinctual connection between them, Pietro raced up the stairs and knocked the archer through a window in his anger to protect Wanda from him. He peeled the arrow off of her head, and she fainted into him. Picking her up the same way he had previously he ran off with her, glaring at the archer the whole time. 

Pietro ran faster than he had ever tried before, and they were outside in under a second. Wanda was awake now, one hand to her head. “What can I do?” He asked worriedly, one arm around her.

“Ah, it hurts…” Wanda managed to breathe out. 

“I’m gonna kill him. I’ll be right back.” Pietro told her, anger taking over.

“No.” She said, stopping him. “I’m over it. I want...I want to finish the plan.” Wanda looked up. “I want the big one.” Pietro followed her gaze to the man anxiously gazing out of the Quinjet. He nodded, and picked her up again. He raced her over so she was just out of his sight, and watched as she manipulated him into becoming the Hulk.

The twins watched him stumble toward the city. Pietro felt bad, innocents might get hurt. _I know brother, but this is for good._ Wanda reminded him. 

Pietro nodded, and instead watched the jet landing nearby. An Iron Legion robot stepped out. “Well, what are you waiting for?” It asked them in Ultron’s voice. The twins glanced at each other, shrugged, and got on. “Time for stage two.” The bot reported.

Pietro took a nap as they flew, to regain his strength and slept off the headache. His dreams were less than ideal at first, visions of blood on a shield, screaming, a floor cracking, the feeling of dust in his lungs, a sharp piercing feeling and the pounding of his heart in his ears. He realized he must have been screaming when he felt a wave of calm settle over him, and then nothing, just a cool blackness. Wanda was keeping his mind clear. He mentally thanked her, before falling into an even deeper sleep, one without dreams.

What must have been a few hours later, Pietro woke to Wanda lightly shaking him awake.

“We are here.” She whispered. He nodded, and got up, grateful to find his headache was gone.

“Thank you.” He said, as he only ever thanked her internally the night before. 

“You’re welcome brother.” Wanda replied, smiling slightly. 

Pietro held Wanda’s hand as they left the jet, but this time he was the one who needed reassurance. 

Ultron, now back in his best body, which the robots must have assembled as they flew, greeted them. “How are you Pietro? I don't understand how dreams work, but you seemed uncomfortable.” He was trying to look for the right words, but Pietro didn't appreciate his attempt.

“I'm fine. Let's keep moving.” He said coldly. He clutched Wanda’s hand tighter. 

Wanda lifted Ultron into the lab through an open window, and Pietro ran through the building. The staff would think it was a gust of wind, and wouldn’t investigate. 

They waited five minutes for Helen Cho to arrive, and when she did, she immediately gasped in shock.

“Scream, and your entire staff dies.” Ultron warned. “I could've killed you, Helen, the night we met. I didn't.”

“Do you expect a thank you note?” She said dryly, voice full of hate.

“I expect you to know why.” Ultron prompted. 

“The Cradle.” She gasped. Ultron played back a recording of her. “This is the next thing, Tony.” 

“This...is the next me.” As usual, the robot was dramatic. 

“The regeneration cradle prints tissue, it can't build a living body.” Pietro was surprised at how calm she sounded despite the circumstances.

“It can, you can. You lack the materials.” Ultron stepped forward. “You're a brilliant woman Helen. But we all have room to improve.” With that, Ultron lifted the scepter, which he had held behind him, and stabbed Cho with it. 

Pietro nearly gasped before he heard Wanda in his head. _Mind control, he did not kill her._ She explained. He let out the breath he was holding. 

The next few hours, the twins worked on closing off the lab. No one could know what went on inside these walls, at least not until it was complete. Pietro blocked off all entrances, locked all the windows and kept up making the lab look like it was operating as normal. Wanda shut down its internet access, and closed off all of the files that could let something leak. She set out reports that the lab was closing itself off to protect from threats, and that it had been having internet problems anyway. After everything was set in place, the twins returned to check on Ultron’s progress. 

“Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We’re uploading your cerebral matrix...now.” Helen reported.

“I can read him.” Wanda said with some surprise. “He is dreaming.”

_What about?_ Pietro asked. 

_Not sure, I’d have to touch him to find out._ Wanda said, and shrugged slightly.

“I wouldn’t call it dreams.” Helen was explaining. “It’s Ultron’s base consciousness, informational noise. Soon-”

Ultron, as usual, cut her off. “How soon? I’m not being pushy.”

“We’re imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is-” She never got to finish her statement, as Wanda suddenly screamed. 

Pietro launched to his sister’s side, protecting her. “How could you?” Wanda spits at Ultron.

“How could I what?” For once the robot seems genuinely shocked.

“You said we would destroy the Avengers, make a better world.” Wanda snarled at him in frustration.

“It will be better.” Ultron was catching on now, and so was Pietro, as he looked back and forth between the two.

“When everyone is dead.” She finished for him.

“That is not!” Ultron seemed to be panicking. “The human race will have every opportunity to improve.” He tried to reason.

“And if they don’t?” Pietro growled, protective of his sister.

“Ask Noah.” Ultron said simply. He was clearly done with them.

“You’re a madman.” Wanda said, eyes narrowed.

“There were more than a dozen extinction level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs. When the Earth starts to settle, a God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he’s winding up. We have to evolve. There’s no room for the weak.” Ultron sounded like he was trying to validate himself, but Pietro wouldn’t take it. He’d never trusted the robot, and this just drove his point home.

Throughout this speech, the twins were talking to each other mentally.

_Brother, I need a distraction._Wanda started.

_Can’t I just run us out of here?_ Pietro asked.

_No, we need to save Helen or Ultron will still get what he wants._ She explained.

_I understand, leave it to me._

Pietro spoke again, so that Wanda would have her opportunity. “And who decides who’s weak?” He demanded. Out of the corner of his eye, Pietro could see Wanda break the scepter’s hold, but he restrained himself from reacting.

“Life. Life always decides.” Ultron decided. He glanced up suddenly. “There’s incoming. The Quinjet. We have to move.” He turned to see Helen Cho cancelling the upload. 

“That’s not a problem.” She said boldly. Ultron blasted her, and Wanda gasped. Pietro grabbed her and ran. He unlocked the doors on his way, and shouted for the lab technicians to run.

When they got outside Wanda immediately turned to Pietro. “I can't believe I trusted him for so long.” She apologized.

“He talked of grand things, made you think it was not the way it was. It's alright sister.” He comforted.

“What now?” She muttered the question, and Pietro could tell she was afraid to ask.

Pietro simply shrugged, afraid to tell his sister he was lost. She smiled sadly, and grabbed his hand. They walked the streets, lost in their own thoughts but not communicating between them. 

Just then, Pietro heard something that made him stop. He couldn’t understand the language, but he knew panic when he heard it. Turning to face the television near them, the twins watched a broadcast. The Avengers were here, and they were trying to get the cradle from Ultron. 

_Captain America? Should we help?_ Pietro asked, making sure he knew what to do.

_Yes._ Wanda nodded. Pietro lifted her into his arms again, and ran, jumping onto the train through a window. It terrified the nearby passengers, but there was no time to worry about that now. 

He ran ahead first, and shoved Ultron off balance as he passed, turning to face him when he stopped. Ultron, already angry, tried to reach Pietro, but Wanda bent parts of the train into his way, blocking him off. 

Pietro watched as Ultron morphed from anger to desperation before he turned and faced Wanda. “Please. Don't do this.” The robot begged. 

“What choice do we have?” She responded coldly.

Ultron turned back around, and lifted his hands to blast again. Pietro gasped, and ducked, dodging out of the way just in time. When he turned back around, Ultron was gone.

“If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!” The Captain was shouting in panic. “Go!” With that, he turned and looked right at Pietro. “Civilians in our path.” He relayed. 

Pietro nodded, knowing what he wanted him to do. He jumped out the same window he came in, and began racing along the street, picking up everyone standing near the train, and moving them out of its reach. Most people yelped in surprise, some kicked, not knowing he was trying to help. He heard the screech of the train behind him, but didn't look back, even in speed time. If he did, Pietro worried he would lose focus, and if he lost focus, someone could die.

Once everyone was out of the way, Pietro rushed to the side to catch his breath. He leaned over, supporting himself against a wall, and took deep gasps of air. Wanda was over to him so fast Pietro could call her the one with super speed. 

_Are you alright?_ She panicked.

“I'm fine.” He reassured. “I just need to take a minute.”

“I'm very tempted not to give you one.” The Captain warned as he walked toward them. 

Wanda frowned, then turned toward him. “The Cradle, did you get it?” 

“Stark will take care of it.” He tried to assure them. 

“No, he won't.” Wanda said coldly.

“You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy.” His response was defensive, but hesitant.

“He will do anything to make things right.” Wanda narrowed her eyes.

The Captain ignored her, thinking. “Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?” He tried.

“Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?” She demanded, staring him down.

The Captain seemed to cave. He sighed and nodded. “Come on.” He muttered. 

The ride to the Avengers tower was tense. In the first thirty minutes it was practically silent, but eventually it seemed Captain America couldn’t take the silence anymore. 

He sat down next to them. “I guess we never introduced.” He tried. “I’m Steve Rogers, or Captain America if you prefer.” He shrugged. “And you guys?” He prompted. 

“You know who we are.” Wanda said.

“I want to hear it from you.” He was trying to connect with them. 

“Pietro.” He spoke suddenly, looking up at Captain America. “Pietro Maximoff.”

Wanda sighed. “Wanda Maximoff. We are twins.” She added. 

“Nice to meet you.” Steve smiled at them. “Why don’t you trust Stark?” He asked. 

Pietro blinked in surprise at the randomness of this question, but nodded slowly. “When we were little, his bombs killed our parents. We were trapped in our room for two days with a bomb, waiting to die.” He explained quietly. 

Steve slowly put a hand to his mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” He apologized.

“It’s alright.” Wanda assured him. “But now we believe Stark will try to create a better Ultron, but in turn he will create another monster to destroy the world.” She explained. Steve nodded, and the three of them fell back into uncomfortable silence for the rest of the ride to the Avengers tower. 

The moment they landed, the three of them rushed toward the lab. Pietro offered to run ahead, but Steve stopped him, convincing him they needed to do this together so no one got hurt. 

“The genetic coding tower’s at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes.” They overheard Banner saying as they entered.

Everyone was immediately on guard. “I’m gonna say this once.” Steve started boldly.

“How about ‘nonce’?” Stark replied sarcastically.

“Shut it down!” Steve demanded.

“Nope, not gonna happen.” Both of them were holding their ground.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” Steve tried. 

“And you do?” Banner cut in. “She’s not in your head?” He nodded toward Wanda. 

Pietro narrowed his eyes, but Wanda spoke up first. “I know you’re angry.” She tried.

“Oh, we’re way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade.” His response was cold, without remorse.

Pietro shifted toe to toe, getting anxious. “Banner, after everything that’s happened-” Steve tried again.

Once again, he was cut off, this time by Stark. “That’s nothing compared to what’s coming!” 

“You don’t know what’s in there!” Wanda seemed as anxious as Pietro.

“This isn’t a game…” Steve was running out of things to say.

“The creature…!” 

Pietro had run out of patience. As Wanda spoke, he unplugged everything in speed time. He returned back to his spot, arms crossed. “No, no. Go on. You were saying?” He offered.

Everything snapped back into speed time without him even trying. Pietro watched with some surprise as a bullet floated past him, going up. He just had time to brace himself before he felt the floor crack. 

“Pietro!” He heard Wanda scream as he fell. 

He looked up to see the Archer. “What? You didn’t see that coming?” He asked, face smug. 

Pietro couldn’t see anything as he got back up, but he heard everything. 

“Go ahead, piss me off.” That threat came from Banner, shortly followed by a flash of bright light and the crackling of lightning. He heard the crash of glass, and realized they had all moved into a different room. He rushed to Wanda’s side. 

“I’m sorry, that was...odd.” The android said. “Thank you.”

“Thor, you helped create this?” Steve asked in confusion.

“I’ve had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that.” Thor explained.

“What, the gem?” Banner asked in confusion. 

“It’s the Mind Stone. It’s one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.” Thor said.

“Then why would you bring it to-” Once again, Steve was cut off. 

“Because Stark is right.” Thor said this as if it was within reason.

“Oh, it’s definitely the end times.” Banner said what everyone was thinking. 

“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron.” Thor reasoned.

“Not alone.” The android spoke again. 

“Why does your ‘vision’ sound like JARVIS?” Steve asked. 

Pietro had no idea who that was, but assumed they weren’t around anymore. “We...we reconfigured JARVIS’ matrix to create something new.” Tony tried to put it into words. Pietro almost groaned. This “Vision” was another AI made by Stark.

“I think I’ve had my fill of new.” Steve said in frustration.

“You think I’m a child of Ultron?” Vision spoke again, with the same tones of attempted emotion Ultron used to use. 

“You’re not?” Steve was shocked.

“I’m not Ultron. I’m not JARVIS. I am...I am.” He looked unsure what to say, which Pietro still doubted considering he was an android, but brushed it off. 

Wanda spoke suddenly. “I looked in your head and saw annihilation.” Her voice was cold, but Pietro knew she was more afraid than angry. 

“Look again.” Vision’s reply was blunt yet seemed hopeful towards her. 

“Yeah, her seal of approval means jack to me.” The archer spoke up now, sarcastic. Pietro narrowed his eyes. 

“Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they’re nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side-” Thor tried reasoning again. 

This time, it was Steve who cut someone else off. “Is it?” He asked. “Are you? On our side?”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Vision replied, shrugged slightly. 

“Well it better get real simple real soon.” For once, Pietro agreed with the archer. 

“I am on the side of life.” He tried. “Ultron isn’t, he will end it all.”

“What’s he waiting for?” Stark asked. 

“You.” Vision’s response was simple. 

“Where?” Banner spoke again.

“Sokovia. He’s got Nat there too.” The archer answered.

“If we’re wrong about you, if you’re the monster that Ultron made you to be…” Banner trailed off, thinking his threat was clear. 

The android looked confused. “What will you do?” He blinked in what must have been realization. “I don’t want to kill Ultron. He’s unique, and he’s in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he’s built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don’t think I’d know if I were one. I’m not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go.” With that, he picked up Thor’s hammer and handed it to him.

Judging by the shock in the room, Pietro could assume that was important. He thought back to when he had tried to grab the hammer out of midair, and it had dragged him along. Yeah, it was probably pretty important. 

“Well done.” Thor said to break the silence, patting Stark on the shoulder as he walked off. 

Steve came back to his senses next. “Three minutes. Get what you need.” 

Steve led the twins to a storage room full of random supplies and outfits. Pietro immediately headed over to the shelf of shoes, pulling out a white pair with green detailing in his size. He searched through the closet, and found himself a blue shirt with grey detail. He pulled it on over his head, excited to have his own uniform. He glanced at the communication device skeptically for a moment, having never used one before, but then shrugged. He was part of the team now. 

_Aren't you going to wear something cool?_ He asked Wanda.

_Not a chance._ She warned. 

He just smiled, and pulled out a red leather coat, tossing it at her.

Within the three minutes that had been set, the twins were waiting back on the Quinjet. 

At exactly three minutes, Steve came in and did a debriefing. “Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out.” He looked at the twins. Pietro nodded to him, he and Wanda could get it done fast. “All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron’s been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right.”

Everyone nodded, and together, the Quinjet continued its course and flew toward Sokovia. Pietro spent the flight in silence, staring out the window and watching the clouds go by. With the speed of the Quinjet, the flight only took thirty minutes. Pietro guessed that everyone, however, not just a speedster like him, felt like it took years. When the city came into view, Pietro started to feel a nervous and foreboding feeling, but there was no time to turn back. 

The moment they landed, Pietro raced to the police station. “We're under attack!” He shouted. “Clear the city, now!” He rushed out to go and evacuate others, but realizing he heard no sirens behind him, had to turn back again. He grabbed a shotgun out of an officer's hands and fired into the air, letting his impatience show. “Get off your asses.” He said in annoyance as they looked around in surprise and confusion. 

Once Pietro knew the police had started evacuating the people, he raced around the city, encouraging people to get going, and helping those who couldn't get away fast enough. 

He stopped, seeing the army of robots approaching. Pietro tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. With a smile, he ran, and began tearing the bots apart. This time, the transition into speed time was smooth, and he barely even noticed it. He pulled the robots apart any way he could, tearing out internal pieces and knocking off their heads. 

Pietro ran until he was nearing the outskirts of Sokovia, when suddenly, he tripped. He heard the explosions go off, and then above all that, Ultron. He got up, and looked around in frustration and confusion as he heard Ultron’s speech. 

“Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world, will be metal.”

Pietro nearly fell as the earth shook around him. He managed to catch his balance and backed away from the edge as it lifted into the air. The moment Ultron finished, he raced away again, ripping apart more robots, this time fueled by anger.

“Cap, you got incoming.” He heard Stark say over comms.

“Incoming already came in.” An exhausted Steve responded on the other line. Pietro raced to a nearby wall, leaning against it trying to catch his breath. “Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt ‘em back. You get killed, walk it off.” Pietro sighed, and took a deep breath before rushing away again. 

_Pietro. Pietro I can’t do this._ Wanda’s panic came to him through the chaos. 

_Yes you can. You have to do this. We have to do this._ He reassured.

_No, I can’t, we can’t save them!_ After that, her voice was gone. 

Pietro began to run, following the last trace of her emotion. He heard Clint’s voice, full of surprise. “Alright, we’re all clear here.” He reported. 

“We are not clear! We are very not clear!” Steve shouted in a rush. 

“Alright coming to you.” Barton responded. 

Pietro just caught up to them then, and lifted Wanda into the air, racing off with her. “Keep up old man!” He shouted with a laugh as he ran.

He dropped her in front of the robots, and began to run toward them himself when he felt a piercing feeling in his arm. He looked at it to see a bullet wound, and turned to the police, giving them a look of annoyance. 

“The next wave’s gonna hit any minute.” Steve reported. “What have you got, Stark?” 

“Well, nothing great.” Stark said decidedly. “Maybe a way to blow up the city. That’ll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear. 

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan.” Steve demanded. 

“Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We’re going to have to make a choice.” Pietro clenched his fists in frustration, he wasn’t about to let his people die.

He suddenly heard the whirring of an engine, and raced toward the edge of the city. He stood by Steve and Romanoff’s side and watched as a S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier flew up to meet them. The sight was incredible and impossible to put into words. 

“Fury, you son of a bitch.” Steve said with a laugh.

The sides of the Helicarrier opened with a low rumble, and several smaller ships flew out, landing in various places around the city.

“This is S.H.I.E.L.D?” Pietro asked in shock. 

“This is what S.H.I.E.L.D’s supposed to be.” Steve responded, smiling at Pietro. 

“This is not so bad.” He replied with a grin. 

“Let’s load ‘em up.” Steve said, returning to the mission at hand. Pietro nodded, and rushed around, directing everyone in sight onto the lifeboats. He carried small children, and held the hands of the elderly, and translated any instructions into Sokovian. 

“Thor, I got a plan!” Stark called out.

“We’re out of time. They’re coming for the core.” Thor replied. 

“Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier.” Stark instructed. 

“On it.” He heard a new voice come over comms. 

“Avengers,” Stark continued. “Time to work for a living.”

Pietro rushed to the church, and immediately went to check on Wanda. “You good?” He muttered the question. 

“Yeah.” She replied quietly, and nodded up at him. 

“Romanoff?” Stark came over comms again. “You and Banner better not be playing ‘hide the zucchini’”

“Relax, Shell-head.” Romanoff said as she joined them, followed shortly by the Hulk. “Not all of us can fly. What’s the drill?”

“This is the drill.” Stark relayed. “If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose.”

As it always ways with Ultron and impeccable timing, the robot took this moment to show up. Pietro glared at him, and moved into a better position to protect Wanda. 

“Is that the best you can do?” Thor taunted, shouting at Ultron. 

Pietro sighed, and used all his willpower in an effort not to facepalm as thousands of robots rushed up behind Ultron. He was shocked though, as he had never realized Ultron made this many copies of himself. 

“You had to ask.” Steve sighed sarcastically.

“This is the best I can do.” Ultron announced. “This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?”

“Well, like the old man said,” Stark spoke up. “Together.”

With that, the Hulk roared, and the bots attacked.

It was a wave of madness, they crawled flew and ran in at every corner, filling everything with the sound of clanking metal and the sight of silver. Pietro took a deep breath, and fell into speed time, racing around the core to form a perimeter. He ducked under blasts from both friend and enemies, and tore and kicked at robots coming from all angles. He was out of breath, but Pietro kept running anyway, knowing that this was the moment they’d built up to, and he was an invaluable piece of it. At one point he broke his perimeter circle, jumping over the core to tackle a robot coming at it from the other side. The rush of adrenaline was fueling him, and his rage toward Ultron for manipulating him and Wanda helped as well. 

He only stopped when he heard Ultron speak again. “You know, with the benefit of hindsight-” Pietro had to jump to the side as the Hulk ran past him, and punched Ultron, sending him spinning into the air before he ever finished that thought. 

All of the robots turned at the Hulk’s roar, and began to fly toward the edge of the city. “They’re trying to leave the city.” Thor reported. 

“We can’t let ‘em.” Stark instructed. “Not even one. Rhodey!”

Vision leapt off to go cut them off, and Pietro turned his focus to Steve, who had begun to speak. “We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I’ll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”

“What about the core?” Barton reminded them.

“I’ll protect it.” Wanda offered. “It’s my job.” Everyone nodded and ran off, but Pietro stayed, worried for his sister. “Get the people on the boats.” She instructed him. 

“I’m not going to leave you here.” He insisted, biting the inside of his lip nervously. He couldn’t bear to lose her. 

“I can handle this.” She reassured him, and lifted a hand to destroy an approaching robot. “Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before.” 

“Hmm.” Pietro mused, looking at her with pride. She had grown up throughout this journey, and as much as it made him happy, he did miss being her big brother.

“You understand?” Wanda asked, clearly wondering why he was stalling. 

“You know, I’m twelve minutes older than you,” was all he decided to say. 

She chuckled and then sent him off. “Go.”

Pietro could have used his speed, but the weight of what they were about to do made him slow down and walk back through the streets of Sokovia. The Avengers’ reports were a mindless background noise as he lost himself in the city. He looked at the buildings, crumbling to dust, and the metal pieces lying scattered on the ground, a reminder of what caused this. He thought back to how his need for justice had blinded him from seeing who truly deserved it. 

The moment he got to the bridge, Pietro froze in his tracks. He didn’t even register his return to speed time as he watched the Quinjet firing bullets right toward Barton, who was carrying a small child in his arms. He didn’t even think as he realized that a gun like that would have exit wounds, he couldn’t just move something in front of Barton, it would pierce through. He didn’t hear Wanda screaming in his mind for him to stop, didn’t even realize he had apologized to her. Pietro just ran. He ran, threw a car up in front of Barton and then felt a piercing feeling, followed shortly by cold black numbness. He felt dust invading his every breath, and knew he was dripping blood but couldn’t feel anything. He felt his heart pounding faster and faster, trying to fix this, trying to keep him alive. The last thing he registered was Barton, and the sound of Wanda’s screams, followed by nothing, just cool black. 

“You didn’t see that coming.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief intermission for what happens between the last chapter and the next, Clint’s perspective. *No longer following the Age of Ultron script*
> 
> \- Starfish

Clint watched in shock as Pietro fell to the ground. He buried the little kid’s face in his shoulder, not wanting the kid to see the wounds. They made him feel sick, but Clint guessed that was shock. He stumbled over to Pietro, and felt at his neck. Clint nearly fainted when he felt a faint pulse. 

Steve was already over. “He’s….He’s still alive.” Clint managed to breathe, shaking all over. 

Steve looked at him worriedly. “I think the shock is getting to you.”

“No time.” Clint insisted. “Check...pulse.” Steve did, at first seeming to only want to satisfy Clint, but then his eyes went wide. 

“Someone get Pietro on life support, get his sister and call Helen Cho. The kid’s still alive.” Steve shouted into comms, already lifting Pietro up into a careful hold. 

Clint could hear Wanda sobbing on the other line, and wanted to comfort her. First, he delivered the boy back to his mother. 

Then he stumbled toward where the Avengers were crowding around Pietro. Thor was maintaining a steady stream of electric sparks, just in case Pietro’s heart failed. Wanda had her hands pressed against his temples, and she was crying as she focused on feeding him encouragement and helping his mind work to keep itself alive. S.H.I.E.L.D agents were bringing in all the medical supplies they had, and Steve was stressing out over a phone call with Helen Cho. 

Steve snapped the phone shut. “She says he can’t last long, even in an Enhanced state. We have to get him to her in the next twenty minutes or it will be much harder to keep him alive.” Even Steve’s voice was shaking as he spoke. “We need the fastest ship you have, and as small a crew as we can carry to keep him alive.” He ordered a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The agent nodded, and rushed off. 

The next three minutes were a frantic blur. At some point someone handed Clint a blanket, and he remembered barfing over the side of the Helicarrier, but nothing else in between that and sitting, shaking, wrapped up in a blanket on a jet. Steve tried to convince him to sleep, but Clint shook his head, insisting to be near Pietro the entire flight. 

During the flight, everyone was silent. Wanda and Thor were focused, as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors, Steve was constantly checking up on the pilot, and Clint was still in shock.

It took fifteen minutes. The landing they made wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t matter. Cho was waiting for them, and had already wheeled up a new cradle. The moment they touched down, she started to insert Pietro’s information into it as they walked, and once they reached her lab, they transferred him into the cradle. He was stabilized quickly, and Cho began her work. 

Once everything was set, Steve turned to Clint. “I need to go, as much as it pains me to say it.” He said. “There’s a lot of repercussions after Ultron, and I have some work to do. Inform me if anything changes, for better or worse.” He explained. 

Clint managed a shaky nod.

“And take care of yourself.” Steve added. When he got no response, he just gave a sad smile, turned and headed off. All of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents followed, having done their work. 

“Barton.” Clint turned naturally, and found Thor standing there. “Would you like me to stay here?” He asked, clearly worried. 

“Do...what you need.” Clint managed to respond. 

“I must go then. I need to understand the Infinity Stones. I bid you well.” The Asgardian said, still not one for sappy goodbyes, and raced off to catch Steve before he left. 

The only three left were Clint, Wanda and Cho, who was busily rushing around, checking monitors, and working on healing Pietro. Wanda had one hand pressed against the glass window on the front of the cradle, and her eyes were clenched shut in focus, though Clint could see the tears staining her face. 

Shaking, Clint removed the blanket from his shoulders, and moved over to Wanda, slowly placing the blanket on hers instead. She put a hand over his before he could pull away and mouthed a quiet “Thank you.” He smiled back, nodded and went to sit down. 

After that, the days blended together. At night it was a mess of uncomfortable naps sitting up in plastic chairs and nightmares of bullet ridden boys and the sounds of a dying heartbeat. During the day it was a rush of checking on his status, standing around and waiting when he couldn’t be near Pietro, watching and whispering encouragement to him when he could, talking with Wanda, insisting he wasn’t as hungry or thirsty as he felt, and frequent calls from his wife and the Avengers. 

For weeks, it seemed like nothing would change, and the calls from Laura were getting more and more worried and insistent that he come home. 

But then, one day, Wanda was shaking him awake. Clint was up in an instant. 

“He’s waking up!” She shouted frantically. He nearly shot out of his chair in surprise, and immediately called the Avengers before rushing over to watch Pietro.


	4. Chapter 4

Pietro woke up to a blur and a ringing in his ears. He let a small groan escape his lips as the throbbing headache and sore limbs followed. His head pounded with the sound of his heartbeat, which was loud to his ears. He tried to move his fingers, but they were either too numb or too sore. Instead, he blinked, trying to clear the blur. It stayed, but it seemed like there was a fog around him in the first place. He tried to swallow, but his breath hitched and he started to shake. He took in deep gasps of breath until he steadied himself again. 

_Brother?_ He heard Wanda’s tentative voice in his mind. It chased away the ringing in his ears, which subsided to a dull beeping which he figured must be coming from whatever was around him. 

_Wanda._ He managed to think back, head still throbbing and constantly throwing off his focus. His eyesight blurred again, and he clenched his eyes shut, hoping to clear the blur when he opened them. It had subsided to a fog again when he opened his eyes. 

“Hey kid.” A shaking voice sounded in the comm that had never left his ear. It was Clint, and he sounded like he was crying. 

Pietro tried to speak, but each time he tried, his heart lurched and he had to draw in gasping breaths again. Instead, he spoke through Wanda. _Hello._ He thought, hoping she would understand. 

He heard a faint echo of their voices above him, and blinked, still trying to see through the fog. 

_Dr. Cho says you aren’t very stable right now, you just went through so much operational work to rebuild your body everywhere it was shot._ Wanda explained. 

Pietro nearly barfed as the memories rushed back, the piercing feeling and the cold blackness, all of it at once. 

Then, his mind was clear, and he could see the red-orange of Wanda’s power working above him. She was singing a lullaby to him in Sokovian that their parents used to sing when they were little, the same one he sang to her the day the bombs took their parents, and was feeding him thoughts of peace and days of happiness. His breathing began to steady, but his heart continued to pound loud and sporadic in his ears. 

As his thoughts pieced themselves together, Pietro glanced from side to side. He was in a small box, which at first he feared was a coffin, but then realized must be the Cradle. The fog in his vision was undoubtedly due to how cold it was, and his limbs were likely unable to move so that he couldn’t accidentally disrupt the healing. 

More figures were crowding around the blur above him. _Can you open the Cradle?_ He asked Wanda, tired of being unable to see. 

_Yes._ She responded, and seconds later a panel of glass above him was sliding to the side with a low whirring. A rush of warmer air fell over Pietro, and he smiled as the sights above him cleared, and he was faced with the Avengers.

Wanda was crying. “Brother. It is so good to see you.” She said, wiping her eyes desperately. 

“Hey kid.” Clint spoke next. “Thank you, so much.” Pietro knew there was nothing in particular he was thanking for. 

“Pietro, welcome back.” Steve said, smiling down at him. Natasha and Tony just look on with smiles of their own. 

“H-” Pietro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Hey.” He tried again, nearly crying with joy when he was able to speak. He thought he had cried, until he realized it was his sister’s tears on his face. 

“When will he be able to get out of the Cradle and move around?” Wanda said, turning to look a Helen Cho, who Pietro couldn’t see from his angle. 

“It should only be one more day.” Cho replied, friendly and cheerful. She walked over to join them. “How are you feeling? This is all relatively experimental, so I want to make sure you’re alright.” She asked. 

“Sore.” Pietro managed to reply, giving a weak smile. 

Steve chuckled. “That’s expected.” Cho stated with a nod. “You should probably get more rest, as we know you’re responsive.” She added, before turning back to continue her work. 

“Can you leave this open?” Pietro mumbled, already ready to sleep after she mentioned it and made him realize how exhausted this pain made him feel. 

He only barely heard Wanda’s laughter as he faded into sleep. His dreams were calm, and part of his consciousness knew that he was healing, so in every dream he made an effort to find a way to heal himself. It was very surreal, as he wandered through his dreams in a partially lucid dreaming state. He remembered nothing else of the dreams, and when he woke the next morning, he merely faded awake. 

His headache was still there, but the throbbing wasn’t as unbearable as before. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears but now everything was just sore. He suddenly realized how hungry and thirsty he was. 

“Good morning Pietro.” Cho said pleasantly as she walked around, getting things in order. 

“Five more minutes.” He mumbled this and she laughed. 

“I told everyone to wait outside while I help you get ready to go greet them.” She explained. “Oh, I’m going to lift the Cradle into a standing position, I’ll do it slow but I figured you should know.” She added. 

Pietro attempted a nod, but only got halfway. With a beep, the Cradle began to rise. Pietro tried to keep his breathing steady, and curled his fingers and toes. His vision still blurred and he felt sick, but he figured it could’ve gone worse. 

Cho opened the cover off the Cradle, and Pietro immediately felt tense. He worried he would fall, but his arms were still secure. “Ready?” She asked carefully. 

“Yeah.” He said shakily, and took a deep breath. “Yeah, okay, I’m ready.” He was more confident that time. She held one arm out in preparation in case he fell right away, and then leaned over, tapping a button on one side. He felt everything loosen and clenched his fists against the side of the Cradle as he pitched forward, dizziness overcoming him with his speed, a feeling he hadn’t felt since he first woke up from the experiments. 

Cho was there in seconds, wrapping one arm under him. “You’re okay, just not used to this since you’ve been still so long, just look at one spot.” She reassured. He swallowed, and stared at the floor as she helped him to turn and sit in a wheelchair she already had set out. 

“Thank you.” Pietro mumbled, somewhat embarrassed that he wasn’t able to hold himself up. “I’m really hungry, and thirsty.” He admitted. 

Cho nodded, handing him a tall glass of orange juice and some bread. He took it gratefully, cursing in Sokovian as the orange juice nearly sloshed out of the glass from the shaking of his hands. He gulped it down, followed shortly by the bread which was satisfyingly warm. 

“Here are your clothes.” She said, handing him the outfit he had received months ago after his experiments. “I'll leave now, just yell if something goes wrong.” Cho nodded to him and then headed out. 

Pietro looked down at the clothes in his arms with a sigh. They reminded him of a time that in hindsight seemed much simpler. A time when he thought he could help people, when he thought he saw a clear enemy. But then, his whole world seemed to speed up with the experiments, and nothing was the same. 

Shaking his head to focus, Pietro changed into the clothes, smiling with the comfort they gave him. Changing had been a mess of course, as his speed made him nearly get stuck several times, and dizziness almost made him fall over when he had to stand up to change pants. He gathered himself again, taking slow gulps of air. For a moment, it felt like he was back on Sokovia, choking on the dust and high altitudes, but then that faded as his mind cleared again. 

Pietro clenched and unclenched his fists, and slowly tried to prop himself up. His pride wouldn’t let him stay in the wheelchair, he wanted to recover already. Of course, his speed took over, and he overcompensated, launching himself to the floor with a thud. He groaned in pain, and heard the door slam open. Seconds later, Wanda was crouching next to him. 

“Are you alright?” She asked in a panic. 

“Yeah I think-” Pietro slammed his hands over his mouth when he felt puke rising in his throat from dizziness. Clint slid a bucket toward him and lifting his head to lean over the bucket, Pietro threw up. He wanted to barf again when he saw he coughed up some blood. He smiled weakly up at Wanda and she shook her head, moving him back into the wheelchair with magic. 

“I didn’t realize you still had blood from your lungs in your throat, sorry you had to see it.” Cho explained as she took the bucket, sending it to cleaning. 

Clint handed him another glass of orange juice. “Take it easy kid, you can’t rush everything.”

“Isn’t that my job?” He tried to joke. 

“Time to get going.” Clint replied, shaking his head.

“Where am I going?” Pietro asked, just trying to make conversation and piece thoughts together. 

“A safehouse.” Clint beamed and made Pietro suspicious and terrified of what would be coming next. 

He slept on the jet ride there, which was most likely Wanda’s doing. He was in a sleep too deep for dreams, and didn’t want to wake up when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He blinked awake, and found himself already in his wheelchair, that was also most likely Wanda’s doing. The sun was shining bright outside, and the light was blinding. He caught the smell of a forest on a breeze that passed by, and set his hands on the wheels with determination. He hated this stupid chair, but he was going to have to get used to it, at least for a while. 

Rolling outside, Pietro found that he was in a small field, a perfect looking farmhouse standing in the grass facing him. Two little kids were racing across the grass toward them, barefoot and beaming. Clint crouched and caught the first in his arms, the other wrapping herself around him moments later. 

Pietro glanced toward him in amused confusion. “You live here?” He asked in mild disbelief. This really didn’t look like it would ever suit the archer. 

“Yeah, I keep it quiet, for their sake.” He nodded to the kids, who were busily examining the twins with wide eyes. 

“Woah. You guys are new!” The little girl gasped. 

“Yeah, we’ve never seen you fighting before.” The boy added. “I’m Cooper.” He thought to introduce. 

“Oh! I’m Lila!” The girl said, realizing she should do the same. 

Wanda crouched down a little to get closer to their height. “I’m Wanda, this is Pietro.” She introduced slowly, continuing when the kids nodded their understanding. “We are new, and magic too.” She demonstrated, lifting the kids off the ground slightly. 

They laughed and turned to Pietro happily. “What can you do?” Cooper asked. 

“I’m really fast.” He explained to them, smiling slightly. 

Lila wrinkled her nose in confusion. “But you can’t run.” She said, as though it was obvious. Pietro looked away, biting his lip and trying not to let himself cry. 

Clint stepped in now. “You should see him run. Super fast. He’ll show you when he can.” He rushed, and then grabbed the kids’ hands. “Now come on, let’s go.” 

Pietro rubbed his eyes angrily, mad at himself for freaking out because of that. He felt Wanda put a hand on his shoulder and shook her off lightly, taking a deep breath. _I’m okay._ He reassured her, and headed off after Clint. 

When he reached the house, Pietro wanted to scream. There were stairs literally everywhere, and he was stuck in this stupid wheelchair. He didn’t want to have to ask his sister for help all the time. Speaking of Wanda, she was right behind him, and lifted him up the stairs to the entrance. The door was open, and he headed inside. 

Upon entrance, His was greeted by a smiling woman, undoubtedly Clint’s wife, seeing as how he was behind her. “I’m Laura.” She introduced. “You’re Pietro and Wanda?” She verified, pointing to each of the twins in turn. They both nod. “I’m happy to have you staying with us, but I have to warn you, we only have one extra bed.” 

The twins just smiled. When they were younger, their room only had one bed, and they had always slept curled towards each other protectively. As they got older, they gradually stopped, but it would be comfort for Pietro right now. 

Laura laughed. “It’s like you two are communicating. I never believed people when they said that about twins, but now I’m not so sure.” They laughed with her, but smiled internally. No one actually knew that they communicated through their thoughts, it had just seemed safer to keep it quiet. 

Throughout the day, Laura helped Pietro set himself up, explaining the layout of the house, where to go for help, the directions to the nearby town, everything. He also began to better know the Bartons, and they had already begun to feel like family. Wanda checked in with him frequently, but she must have felt the same thing, as she was constantly helping with anything and everything. 

Just as the sky was starting to darken, there was a knock at the door. Pietro was in the living room watching the kids while Laura cooked, so he rolled over to the door and opened it. The Avengers stood there, crowding each other on the front porch. Pietro laughed, and let them in. 

“You look better.” Steve smiled at him, and Pietro smiled back, as he still admired the Captain like a child would their favorite cartoon character. 

“I think the Capsicle means you look less dead. Good recovery zombie kid” Stark added as him sauntered by. Pietro frowned slightly. He still didn’t like Tony Stark, or his ‘witty’ remarks. 

“It truly is a miracle, escaping Valhalla, though they will welcome you again in your time.” Thor patted him on the shoulder as he passed. Pietro almost laughed at his odd words. 

“Gosh boys, can’t even shed a tear for the recently nearly deceased?” Natasha responded with sarcasm. It wasn’t like she was crying either, but no one mentioned that. 

“It’s like a clown car, they just keep coming.” Laura muttered to Pietro as Vision floated through the wall directly next to the door, because apparently he couldn’t bother with doors. Pietro smiled at Laura’s joke, but scowled at Vision. He hated him more than he hated Tony Stark and possibly even more than he hated Ultron, which was saying something. 

Two who he didn’t recognize arrived next, but he gathered that their names were Rhodey and Sam. Finally, Nick Fury himself, followed by Maria Hill showed up. 

“I swear I didn’t invite half of you.” Clint narrowed his eyes directly at Tony. 

“I did.” He grinned. “Figured this party needed more spirit.” He chuckled at his own joke, but earned a punch in the gut from Thor. “Alright, alright, sorry kid.” He apologized.

“I know your kind.” Pietro responded simply. “Don’t call me kid.” He added. 

Rhodey laughed. “You have a kind now! You got owned!” 

“With all the suits he’s built, Tony practically has a species.” Steve added, to the uproarious laughter of everyone but Tony. 

“I deserve that.” He conceded, arms crossed in annoyance anyway. 

“Food is almost ready, should be done in under half an hour.” Laura reported, and nodded to them before heading back into the kitchen. 

“I’ll go help her.” Wanda muttered, and rushed away, glancing briefly at Vision as she did so. Pietro narrowed his eyes. No way, not happening. 

Vision started after her and Pietro wheeled into his way. “I think less people in the kitchen will do more good.” He offered as an excuse. 

“Right, I should leave them.” Vision barely acknowledged him, and acted as though he had come to his own decision. 

Suddenly he heard the tapping of tiny feet racing their way down the stairs. Cooper and Lila must’ve heard the commotion and found it more interesting than whatever they had been doing upstairs. Pietro turned around just in time to see them launching themselves at Natasha. “Auntie Nat!” They screamed in delight. 

Natasha crouched down, hugging them. “I’m back again. Aren’t we lucky to see each other so many times in such short time.” At this, she glanced up at Clint with a grin. “Now let’s go see what you’ve been up to.” 

Cooper nodded and dragged her up the stairs, but Lila stayed for a moment, staring at Thor with wide eyes. “Do you want to see our Legos?” She asked tentatively. 

“It would be the greatest honor.” Thor said, following a cheerful Lila upstairs after Cooper and Natasha. Pietro laughed, knowing full well the Asgardian had no idea what Legos were, but wanted to please the little girl. 

Pietro wheeled himself into a corner, hoping to take up the least space so anyone could get by. Everyone slowly cleared outside to wait for dinner, talking about one thing or another. Steve was about to head out with Sam, talking in hushed tones about someone when he must’ve seen Pietro out of the corner of his eye. He nodded to Sam, who looked up and smiled. The two changed their course and sat down on the couch nearest Pietro. 

“What were you two talking about?” Pietro asked curiously, trying to join in their conversation as smoothly as possible. 

They glanced at each other nervously, and the shifting of their eyes looked like they were trying to communicate something but it could never get through. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Steve shook his head as if clearing the air around it. “Last year, I found out my best friend and partner from the war was alive. And an assassin. This was also when we found out Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. We have no idea where Bucky is, but Sam and I have been trying to find him.” It seemed like the tension around Steve dropped as he spoke. 

“I’m sure you can find him.” Pietro smiled, as it reminded him of Hugo, the boy from the facility who had acted as an older brother to the volunteers, and had been searching for his sister who was missing. He didn’t mention any of this though, just smiled slightly. 

“That’s enough about my problems.” Steve spoke again, waving the topic away. Sam looked slightly confused, but went along with it. “We should be talking about happier things. For example.” Steve paused, suddenly without ideas. “Sam! What’s your favorite movie?” 

Pietro and Sam laughed, and then they began to talk. It was all shallow small talk, but it was a comfort to just fill the space between thoughts with words and noise, drowning out their fears, if only for a little while.

Twenty minutes passed by faster than anything, and Sam and Steve helped Pietro outside. They joined everyone sitting around the Barton’s little fire pit. It looked very friendly, familiar, especially with the way the sun was only barely visible behind the trees at this point. Thor was in the middle of laughing when they joined everyone, and Pietro immediately smiled. Thor had a way of inspiring laughter in others, with the way his whole body shook as he boomed with laughter and his smile stayed bright long after the echos had faded. 

Laura had made tons of delicious food for the Avengers, but Pietro ended up with a bowl of Mac’n’Cheese. It was an unfamiliar food, but it had looked and smelled amazing. Clint had told him it was for the kids, but Pietro shrugged and ate some anyway. It was just as amazing as he thought, though not quite as good as pizza.

They laughed as they ate, talking until it was far past dark. They looked like the perfect family, sitting there. They made s’mores, and Tony laughed like a madman when Thor’s fingers were so sticky from marshmallows that his hand stuck to Mjølnir and he couldn’t put the hammer down. Wanda burned at least five marshmallows before she gave in and let Vision do it for her, Steve was a champion, and not only roasting his own marshmallows but the kids’ as well. Pietro gave up after he burnt a marshmallow, and barely heated them before making his s’mores. Clint passed out the s’more supplies, and Pietro was sure he saw him snacking on them more than once. 

Everyone left slowly, and Pietro watched the fire slowly flicker out after everyone was long gone. Eventually, Wanda came back from cleanup and helped him back inside. Pietro fell asleep in his clothes, tired from everything happening at once. His dreams were odd, fading around from memories to normal dreams. At one point he was signing up for the experiments, the next he was a leprechaun opening up a wormhole. None of it made much sense, but he felt more rested than he had in months. 

After this, the days began to blend together. It was a mixture of helping around, and trying to get used to his speed again. Unlike the first time he had gained his speed when he had to learn to keep up with his mind, this time it was his body that needed to catch on. So Pietro practiced. He practiced speed control by kicking his legs or curling his fingers and toes, and he practiced loosening out the wounds where he had been shot by bending over or rolling his shoulders. When he helped around, it was usually keeping track of the kids or carrying items or messages from one side of the house to the other. 

The day Laura’s baby came would always be a day that stood out in his memory. Pietro had been practicing standing at this point, but fell backwards into his wheelchair when he heard Laura’s panicked shouts from the kitchen. 

He wheeled over, barely aware that he was in speed time. “What’s happening?” He asked in a panicked blur.

“The baby,” Laura relayed, and then put her hand on her stomach again. “Clint!” She howled angrily. He could hear Clint running over. “Pietro, please keep track of Cooper and Lila, and inform them, Wanda, and the Avengers what’s happened.” She told him, and then rushed away to find Clint and undoubtedly give him a piece of her mind for not showing up right away since the hospital was a good drive away and Laura was a woman who wanted to be on time. 

Pietro immediately nodded, and wheeled away. _Sister, I need to get upstairs right now!_ It was rare that he asked Wanda for help when she wasn’t right near him, so Pietro knew she would understand the importance. He was up the stairs in moments, and went straight to the kids room. 

“We heard shouting, what happened?” Wanda asked carefully. 

“It’s the baby. Clint is taking Laura to the hospital, we have to make some calls.” Pietro rushed through this, barely stopping for a breath. 

Cooper and Lila cheered, but then Lila looked worried. “Will mommy be okay?” She asked. 

“Of course,” Pietro smiled sympathetically. 

“Yeah, don’t worry Lila!” Cooper encouraged. Lila smiled, and nodded, convinced. 

Pietro hadn’t even realized Wanda left, but she was back now, and tossed him a cell phone and a note of numbers, already dialing away on hers. He had to call Steve and Nat. 

He called Steve first. He picked up on the third ring, but waited for Pietro to speak first. “It’s Pietro,” He paused, but got no answer. “I have news.” 

“What sort of news?” The reply finally came, and Pietro almost dropped to floor in relief that it was actually Steve who picked up. 

“It’s the baby.” Pietro said simply, knowing Steve would fill in the rest. 

“That’s wonderful,” It sounded like Steve might have knocked something over in his excitement. “When can I come meet him?” 

“I’d give them a week.” Pietro guessed, shrugging and looking at Wanda. She nodded, confirming that she would tell the others the same. 

“I won’t keep you, goodbye.” Steve said quickly, and hung up. Pietro nearly dropped the phone with laughter. Steve was extremely professional over the phone, even though the news he got was about a baby. 

He didn’t even get past the first ring when Natasha picked up. “Clint?”

“No,” Pietro corrected. “It’s Pietro.”

“So I gathered,” Natasha paused, and Pietro could guess she was analyzing why he called. “Is it the baby?” Her voice caught an edge of excitement as she said this.

“Yes,” he answered, smiling. 

He could hear in Natasha’s voice the excitement she was trying to hold in. “How long do I have to wait?” 

“A week,” Pietro replied, using his previous approximation. 

Natasha hung up without any goodbyes and Pietro frowned slightly. Turning to looking over at Wanda he nodded. _Now we wait._

For the next two days, the four of them spent their time in tense boredom, anxious for Clint and Laura to return. Wanda cooked whatever the kids wanted, and Pietro continued to practice standing. Cooper and Lila kept themselves busy by running around the house or reading but none of them could sit still for more than five minutes without getting up and mumbling some excuse about having something to do or somewhere to be. Sometimes Pietro curled in on himself, growling in frustration as all he could hear was the ticking of the clock. 

The moment they heard the revving of the car engine as it rolled up the driveway, all four of them were racing to the door. Pietro picked up Cooper and Lila on the way, and got them outside in speed time. He watched from the porch, a small smile on his face, as the kids raced to Clint and hugged him and then crowded around Laura, jumping up and down happily and undoubtedly asking far too many questions. 

Laura was beaming as she walked up the steps, and Pietro immediately held out an arm to help her. She shook her head. “Go inside Pietro, I’ll introduce you to little Nathaniel in a moment.” 

Pietro threw her one last glance of worry, but then nodded and rolled inside. He made his way to the corner by the couch, and waited. He began drumming his fingers on his knee, as he had spent a whole two days waiting, and it honestly felt like he’d go insane. Cooper and Lila raced in and jumped right onto the couch, and began happily chatting about nothing as they waited to be properly introduced to the baby as well. 

“Here he is,” Laura said, smiling softly as she sat down. “Little Nathaniel Pietro Barton.” 

Pietro didn’t notice the tears the were streaming down his face until he could barely see through them. One hand was in front of his wide open mouth. He felt like he might have let out a quiet scream, and realized he was lightheaded. He never imagined such a thing could happen. The baby was adorable, with light blue eyes that flowed as he took in the world around him. 

He snapped out of his trance when he felt Clint put a hand on his shoulder. “We named him after the two people who have continually saved my life.” He muttered. Giving a half hearted attempt to wipe the tears from his eyes, Pietro smiled gratefully. Clint laughed, and leaned down to hug Pietro. “You didn’t see that coming, huh?” He joked. Pietro laughed, but it was weak and lost amongst his tears. 

After that day, Pietro would take any chance he got to help out with little Nathaniel. He played with him, talked to him and even stayed up late through the night when Laura and Clint needed sleep the most. Pietro of course, could not be happier, and this was reflected in his healing. He started to gain better control of his speed and the nightmares started to fade as well. 

The day he walked was another day Pietro would never forget. He’d been trying for a few weeks, but hadn’t been able to take more than half a step before he lost his balance and fell. He was outside, and sitting on the grass, wheelchair left at the front steps. Cooper and Lila were chasing each other around the yard, and Wanda was helping Clint haul some wood. 

Pietro stood up, slowly, and carefully. Cooper jogged over to him when he saw this, smiling. “Are you going to try to walk again?” The boy asked, face full of surprise. The last time Pietro had tried he’d nearly fallen down the stairs, so no one had expected him to try again for a few days. 

“I am. I can do it this time.” He said, gathering all of his confidence and hoping that would make it true. 

“I’ll help!” Lila offered, running over. Pietro laughed. She had been singing the same song every time he practiced walking, so he knew what was coming long before she sang the first words. “Just put one foot in front of the other!” She sang, off key but cheerful. 

“Just put one foot in front of the other.” He repeated this to himself in a low whisper. Pietro slowly lifted his foot, staring at it with pure concentration. He took deep breaths, and curled and uncurled his fingers trying not to freak out. And then he put one foot in front of the other. 

Pietro nearly screamed with joy. Cooper and Lila did, and Lila started jumping up and down. “The song helped! It helped! He did it! Cooper come on!” She cheered. 

Cooper was grinning, and the two of them continued singing. “And soon you’ll be walkin cross the floooooor!” 

Pietro could feel himself near tears, and took another slow, wobbly step forward. He sang with the kids now, stupid grin on his face, tears in his eyes. “Just put one foot in front of the other!” 

He took another step, a bit faster this time, and definitely more sure of himself. His breathing evened out and he stopped needing to focus on every movement, instead able to just focus on the steps he was taking. “And soon you’ll be walking out the door!”

Their scream singing had attracted the attention of Wanda, Clint and Laura, who dropped everything and raced over. All of them watch, screaming and laughing in joy as Pietro walked across the grass. 

Once he had taken ten steps, Wanda nearly tackled him back to the ground in a hug. “You really did it.” She sniffled, wiping away tears. 

“I walked it off.” Pietro joked, his own tears long dry. He knew this was only the beginning, and he had a long way to go before he could ever run like he used to, but it was something, and he would savor this moment, for as long as it lasted. 

Pietro had only stayed with the Bartons for a year, but it had felt like a lifetime, with all he had accomplished. He had healed, going from broken with night terrors to running and happy. He had watched little Nathaniel grow into a gurgling happy little boy, and he had begun to get a taste of what normality truly was. He hadn’t felt it in so long, it was wonderful now, but his feet craved the feeling of running and his heart so badly wanted to help the Avengers, to help others. 

A few months ago, Wanda had started to leave, going to training sessions and getting to better know the team. Pietro was afraid of being the outsider, but he couldn’t intrude on the Bartons forever, as much as they tried to convince him otherwise. He was constantly itching to do something, and his nights became restless without the comfort of his sister beside him, and Pietro tossed and turned, unsure whether to stay or to go. Clint urged him to go, to live and enjoy the thrill of it all while he could, but Wanda urged him to stay, ever the protective sister. In the end, it was Pietro who chose, and he told them his choice the day after his twentieth birthday. He had to go, to get out there, to find out what he was missing. 

It was a day of heartfelt goodbyes. Pietro and Clint hugged briefly, but Clint assured him they would be seeing each other again, and if Pietro were to ever need his help, Clint would be there. Laura seemed like she would never let go as she told Pietro how proud of him she was, and how much of a son he’d become to her, and how he really didn’t have to go if he didn’t want to. In the end it was Pietro who had to comfort her, convincing her he would visit constantly. Cooper and Lila latched on to his legs, insisting that he couldn’t leave now. Pietro smiled and knelt down to their level, telling them he’d be back, quick as a bunny if they asked. They were happy with this, and even raced after the jet as it took off, waving aggressively. Pietro waved back, smiling, hoping they could see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry if I missed any of Wanda & Pietro’s inner dialogue
> 
> Chapters will get more scattered from here on out


End file.
